Bursting
I am bursting. And I don't mean just about the food. I am bursting with issues I want to post about. And therein lies my problem. I have become all consumed with blogging, etc. And it's not just the time I spend posting and commenting. Even my normal day to day thoughts are being overshadowed by the verbiage I'm going to use for my next post. And then I sit down to post and have to re-create it all anyway. My wife talks to me and I just don't hear her the first two times or sometimes answer a question with something I've been thinking about in blogging.
So I must take a break and I don't know how long I'll be. It's not just a break from blogging, I won't be surfing for a while either, at least until I break these terrible habits.
I'll probably also revamp, add haloscan , maybe choose a different backdrop, add my favorite bloggers, etc.
I agree with Hasidic Rebel about the proper way to handle breaks. So why am I advertising this now?
Well, I really don't want to lose you guys and I notice via my Sitemeter that some visitors reach me by a Google Search for "Baal Habos". I would have thought some of this was first timers stumbling on my Blog, but that's not the case. Besides, earlier this week I saw a comment on XGH blog asking how will everyone know when he's back.
So it seems that there are lots of people out there who don't know that you can register with some service and you get notified when a new Post hits your Favorite Blog. ;)
I use Bloglines which was recommended to me by a prominent blogger. I don't want to be accused of namedropping, so I won't mention his handle.
In any event you sign up, install something on your PC and if you set things up right you can, with a single click, add blogs you monitor. And you can install a notifier, so that you get notified when your favorite bloggers (Harumph) post something new.
I'll keep commenting on for a couple of days.
I've been in contact with quite of few of you via Email and I'll continue that; If you send me something specific I'll check out some blog, but to preserve my sanity, I need to stop surfing for a while.
I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I'm living
So different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed.
Fantine - Les Miserables
43 Comments:
Bos, NO! I am not finished preaching to the God damned trashy atheist infidels who are rushing headlong into the fires of Hell! I need your blog now more than ever!!!! How can I properly enjoy the Feast of Tabernacles?
good luck breaking the habit
>How can I properly enjoy the Feast of Tabernacles?
I suggest you try a Psychiatrist. Or perhaps try Sitra Achra.
>good luck breaking the habit
B, thanks. I never undestood what news articles were taking about. In the past I used the web as a tool to get info, banking, etc. I see it could become a very serious addiction.
So I'll try to stick to emails for a while and then (when I'm recuperated, (IY'H?) come back but in a more controlled fashion.
I hope it's easier that losing weight.
Losing weight is easy too. I've lost 15 pounds since August 9.
But finding a blog like this, where I felt so accepted and I was really making a difference, that's going to be hard. "sniffle"
bhb
i look forward to you posts.
And y'all still don't realize that JP is a satire.
If only he were a satire. Sadly, he's not.
If only he were a satire. Sadly, he's not.
Happy, thanks, I'll be in touch. There is something I needed to follow up with you.
Kylopod, what makes you think so? Cause he's so outrageous? That's no proof.
Anon & company, has anyone actually tried to contact him? He gives his Name and addres. Has anyone had visual contact with him?
BH, just look at the first comment in this thread. That sound to you like someone serious, or like someone pulling everyone's leg?
Sigh. I guess you don't have the same experience I do with Internet trolls.
Kylopod, or someone just trying to be funny to ingratiate himself with everone after he showed everyone how insensitive he is?
I am sensitive. I am filled with love and mercy. That's the point - you have no idea how much. My dream in life is to get a hold of some the human trash and refuse who fill the Jewish blogosphere and, with love and kindness, knock some sense through their thick atheistic skulls. When they have, with God's help, become true penitents, they may in fact reach a higher spiritual level than a perfect saint. That will be glorious moment!!
This blog is where I feel at home.
Trolls are definitely not out to ingratiate themselves with people. They're out to cause discord, sometimes in very subtle ways. One of those ways is by pretending to be the very sorts of people they despise, in order to discredit them.
It's not a whole lot different from what some comedians do. For example, Stephen Colbert adopts the persona of a right-wing talk-show host, when he's really a liberal making fun of conservatives. But Colbert isn't particularly subtle about this, and his satire is relatively light-hearted. Trolls often use this kind of tactic, but in a much more subtle and much more vicious way. It's a form of passive agressive behavior that the Internet makes possible.
You asked before what proof I had. But it's very hard to prove when someone is a troll. I can only rely on personal hunches, based on past experience dealing with trolls. Internet communication is in many ways a system built on trust. Even though you've chosen to hide your identity, I choose to trust that you're presenting a fairly accurate picture of your life and opinions, give or take a few details. But think how easy it would be to just make up stuff. You could say you're a great doctor, or a GQ model. Or you could espouse viewpoints you do not really hold, just to see how other people react. I've seen individuals do stuff like that on the Internet. I've even talked to people offline who have admitted to doing such stuff. And I've encountered such individuals on the Internet, though I usually have a hard time proving what I suspect.
I'm not 100% sure about JP, but if you haven't noticed his behavior is just getting more bizarre--and absurd--with each new post.
BHB, I'll miss you, but I totally understand. I should be working now and I'm not. I know I'm addicted to the internet.
At least we don't have a TV.
I've got you on my RSS reader so I'll see you when you're back (and maybe drop you a line in between. I had something to tell you about that I've totally forgotten now.)
BJ thanks; and you can always E-mail me (are you going to do that post re postcards?).
MK, thanks, Bloglines is very straighforward. Good luck
Enjoy your Sukkos; whatever's left of it.
Kylopod, I'll email you when I get the chance.
Postcards??? Have I forgotten something totally?
If I have I lay all blame on my daughter. She stole my brain while I was pregnant and hasn't given it back yet.
BJ, didn't you send me a URL about those postcards with the Gemara on it?
I don't think so...
Biilie Jean, Oops. sorry it wasn't you.
Hey, you don't even have an infant to blame ;)
Billie J, true, but remember my CRS :) see this
Has anyone thought that maybe I'm just he only honest person here?
"Has anyone thought that maybe I'm just [t]he only honest person here?"
Well, let's say that's true. Then I have a question for you. Why do you bother coming here? What are you trying to accomplish?
>Has anyone thought that maybe I'm just he only honest person here
JP, surem numerous times.
But then I reject that and think you're the only one that's totally dis-honest.
You never go back and re-evaluate anything. You adopted a mind-set at the ripe old age of 16 and refeuse to re-evaluate. You don't look at evidence and think; you simply have an Apriori opinion and shuffle all new facts to fit that opinion. I on the other hand, a) have no pre-determined conclusion b) would prefer a TMS conclusion (given all that I have vested in it) and still come to the conclusion that you're wrong.
A gutten Moed.
Bos, frankly I think you're a total phoney. Someone who has allegedly devoted his entire life to Torah, whose parents and family sacraficed for Torah for generations, has just casually decided "Oh, you know, I think it's all nonsense." Just like you've decided to change from Coke to Pepsi. I don't believe it.
What am I trying to accomplish by coming here? What was Jeremiah trying to accomplish? Anyone here bothered to read his book?
Jacob, just because you believe something does not make it true. And no amount of proclaiming otherwise will make it so. So unless you like banging your head against the wall I suggest there are better uses of your time than trying to convince people who have already heard, considered and, after much thought, rejected your arguments that you are right.
JP,
> Someone who has allegedly devoted his entire life to Torah, whose parents and family sacraficed for Torah for generations, has just casually decided "Oh, you know, I think it's all nonsense."
See what I mean - you can't be reasoned with. For someone who was never a believer, and therefore not a Shomer Torah you take the position that the individual rejects OJ because of his desire to sin. Take someone who was (and still is) a shomer Torah and you claim (s)he's a phony.
So you're the phony.
Now that you bring up Yirmiyahu, can you gove me some specifics of issues that he raised with the Jewish nation. Was it Learning more? Was it Daf Yomi? Was it Tsnius, separate seating on the Monsey bus? Too mych talking in shul; for What SPECIFICALLY did Yirmiyahu take the jews to task?
Anyone wonder if JP is just a masochist? Or maybe he is more of a sadist? Hell, maybe he is just really into S&M!
> Anyone wonder if JP is just a masochist?
I think he's more delusional than anything else. He spouts pseudoscience, elementary school level Judaism and fire and brimstone and expects that to convince the skeptics. If anything he's driven me further from OJ.
BHB: I didn't remember about CRS until I saw the post. So I guess we're even. Makes me worried about what I'll be like when I hit 40. Yikes!
JP -- there's a crucial element of the skeptic mindset you're missing: for most frum skeptics, it's initially extremely difficult to accept what they realize are uncomfortable truths--that all they've been taught was a combination of hogwash and wishful thinking; that for most of their lives they were so gullible to accept fantastic myths as historical fact; that all their ancestors *were* indeed foolish and primitive (and that the question "you think you're smarter than all your ancestors who died for Yiddishkeit?" is nothing but simplistic rhetoric)--and they will initially try every avenue to justify those beliefs, until they realize there's no way to do so while being intellectually honest.
So you're wrong that it's all so simple for the skeptic. It can be an extremely disturbing process.
Frum people like to say that skeptics are motivated by their desire to sin. But most skeptics don't sin. They keep on leading outwardly frum lives. They almost certainly didn't have an overwelming desire to eat a cheeseburger, drive on shabbos, or even stop davening before their skepticism set in, and usually they have little desire for it even afterward.
BHB
I understand exactly where you're coming from. But then I always understand where you're coming from because reading your blog, one of my favorites, is like looking in a mental mirror. I use another approach. I read alot and reply little. I will miss your respectful tone in replying to even the most outrageous attacks.
Ploni Almonymous
JP: Your Jeremiah comparison has no application to the present situation. You're not a prophet. Your only goal here is to persuade people to the truth of Yiddishkeit. If that's not happening, then you're wasting your time.
What you repeatedly fail to realize is that your posts are not the be-all, end-all of Orthodox Jewish apologetics. Just because the Torah is true doesn't mean you're doing a good job of defending it.
From what I've seen, you immediately lash out at anyone who questions your arguments. You never attempt to enter into dialogue with skeptics. I'm not sure you even know what the word "dialogue" means in this context.
I'm not attacking you. I'm giving you constructive criticism. So please spare me your persecution complex and take a serious look at what I'm saying.
HR,
>But most skeptics don't sin. They keep on leading outwardly frum lives.
Quite true. So we really get all the dis-advantages of skepticsm and none of the benefits.
PA, thanks. But don't you have the urge then to shout and yell your story? Even anonymousely?
Baal haBos, what can I say? Until we meet face to face, your entire story sounds quite fishy, and that goes for a lot other people here. A few of you may be the same person.
Have you ever thought of changing your name to Baal haBaloney?
Jacob, YOUR story is A LOT more fishy. The way you rejected your family at 16, ran off to Israel, etc. He who is without sin...
Jacob, YOUR story is A LOT more fishy. The way you rejected your family at 16, ran off to Israel, etc. He who is without sin...
Have you ever thought of changing your name to Baal haBaloney?
Maybe you should call yourself Jewish Comedian. You are about as funny as you are a real philosopher.
So please spare me your persecution complex and take a serious look at what I'm saying.
Kylopod, interesting that you should bring that up. Persecution complexes are a feature of religious fundamentalists. If you read the Christian conservative press, you will get the feeling that Christians in America are under siege. The Muslim persecution complex and obsession with Islamophobia and stereotyping is well-known; interestingly, even in places and times where those religions are in total ascendancy, and even have the power of the state, they find it useful or perhaps genuinely perceive themselves as being embattled and oppressed. We have it among Jews, too, obviously (although unlike the previous two groups, we have consistently suffered real persecution).
Anonymous,
Don't seek to his level. Turn the other cheek :)
I meant to say:
Don't sink to his level.
I am being persecuted by evil bloggers.
My story is very fishy, but truth is stranger than fiction. You can call up my adopted parents if you want to - Lewis and Anne Epple in Phoenix Arizona. Don't wait to long; they are already about 80, but still as sharp as ever.
JP, what can you say. I learned in the blog world to take everyone at face value. You say that's your story, I trust you, as odd as it sounds. You've got no choice but to trust mine.
Resh Lakish, welcome.
Hasidic Rebel:
What you said is spot on.
Post a Comment
<< Home